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Bruce Springsteen was a surprise guest at a jam session at the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival Friday night, with the singer joining fellow E Street Band members, Southside Johnny and other New Jersey rockers for a covers-filled set at Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre.

The concert also featured the rarity "Ballad of Jesse James," a track the then-Bruce Springsteen Band recorded in 1972 and remained unreleased until the arrival of the Born to Runcompanion album Chapter and Verse in 2016. For Friday night's performance, founding E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez handled vocals.

The gig also reunited Springsteen with former E Street Band members Lopez, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Ernest "Boom" Carter.

The jam session was held in celebration of Just Before the Dawn, a new documentary focused on the Upstage, a short-lived music venue in Asbury Park that served as a breeding ground for many of the artists who congregated onstage Friday night at the Paramount Theatre, including Springsteen, Van Zandt and other E Streeters.

"It's great," Springsteen told the Asbury Park Press after the show. "It's nice to see new talent in Asbury and the old guys still cranking it out. It's very enjoyable."